Abu Al-Ḥasan Al-Shushtarī: Songs of Love and DevotionMystic and poet Abū al-Hasan al-Shushtarī (1212-1269) remains a towering figure in North African Sufism. His verses are still well loved and often recited, and his songs are arguably the most vibrant element of Islamic Spain's cultural legacy. He is crucial to an understanding of the history of mysticism in Islamic Spain and North Africa. Yet, he is overlooked by Western scholars and few of his poems have been translated. This book seeks to correct this deficit by (1) setting Shushtarī and his work in the political and intellectual contexts of his time; (2) introducing his thought to an English-speaking audience through a presentation of his poetry. Each of the chapters that presents the poetry starts with a thematic introduction that explores the symbolic, poetic, and doctrinal import of the material that follows. Sensuous and spiritual, erotic and ethereal, this selection of works will delight everyone, whether or not they are devotees of Islamic literature. + |
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Abu Al-Ḥasan Al-Shushtarī: Songs of Love and Devotion ʻAlī ibn ʻAbd Allāh Shushtarī Limited preview - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
Abū Madyan al-'Ilmiyya al-Andalus al-Dīn al-Ḥasan al-Risāla al-Shushtari Allah Andalusian Andalusian dialectal Arabic poetry Bakr Beirut beloved Brill Christian classical Arabic colloquial commentary Dār desert dhikr dialectal divine Dīwān drink echoes Edited Escorial essence faqih fuqarā God's ḥadīth heart Ibn Ajība Ibn al-'Arabi Ibn al-Farid Ibn al-Khaṭīb Ibn Arabi Ibn Masarra Ibn Sab'in illegible letter intoxication Islamic Mysticism journey kharja khirqa Kitāb language Layla Leiden listen literally Little shaykh lover Madyan manuscript master meaning Meknes meter monastery Monorhyme Monorhyme qaṣīda Muḥammad Muḥammad ibn Muslim muwashshaḥāt Najd Nashshār natural Nūniyya odes poet poet's poetic poor poverty praise Press Prophet Qays Qur'ān Qur'ānic refer religious rhyme Risāla secret seek Sharḥ Shushtarī Shushtari's songs speak spiritual Stetkevych strophic Sufi Sufism sunna sūra symbolic talisman tion tradition trans translated an illegible Umar understand union University veil vernacular verses wearing wine word writings Yale zajal